Mariem Hassan has become the most representative voice of the music of Western Sahara
throughout the world. With two electric guitars and two tebals she has synthesized the spirit of
the Haul and without losing an apex of freshness been able to place it into the XXIst century.
Her concerts are powerful. The public can discover a solid and decided artist singing about her
wishes and the needs of her people. Mariem sings in hassania, the language of that corner in
the desert which is her homeland. Her intense voice leads us through mysterious paths on which
struggle and tragedy shake hands with tenderness and intimate feelings.

Different dances, performed by the percussionist, enrich a repertoire based on traditional and
spiritual songs as well as modern ones. The group has been able to develop a sound where there
is space for blues, reggae and echoes of other current music.
In the seventies, Mariem joined forces with El Uali. With this group she toured many countries
to take part in cultural events of high political impact. From this supported base, Mariem Hassan
has sung for more than thirty years.

She had recorded and participated in different collective CDs. DESEOS (Nubenegra, 2005) is
her real first solo album. A documentary film: MARIEM HASSAN, The Voice of the Sahara
(55'), was released in 2008 and presented at the FISAHARA festival. SHOUKA (Nubenegra) is her 2010 CD, an ambitious work.

After her performances at WOMAD Cáceres and WOMAD Canarias, Mariem Hassan was invited
to the WOMAD UK, Chartlon Park where she performed in July 2009. And in march 2010
Mariem will participate at WOMADelaide and WOMAD NZ in Australia and New Zealand.

Her show at WOMAD, the first day of the festival, was reviewed by Nick Hasted, THE INDEPENDENT
The early highlight is Mariem Hassan. She plays a version of the Saharan blues popularised by
Tinariwen, the result of rebel fighters in refugee camps plugging into Led Zeppelin, and their
Mississippi sources. Black-robed Mariem Hassan is a spokeswoman for the rebel nomad tribes of
Western Sahara, easy to believe as her rapid ululations drill through the air. You can only
imagine the cultural and political barriers she brazens through daily. Dirty rhythmic lead guitar
helps the job here. Nor are potent resistance songs her only talent. As we're cheerily informed
"Mariem will be cooking later at the Taste the World tent”, of course.

Stefan Simanowitz, MUSIC OMH
Revellers at this year's 27th WOMAD festival, traditionally a family-friendly favourite of
alternative lifestylers and world music fans, were taken aback to see Prince Harry sauntering
across the immaculate grounds of Charlton Park. Wearing a green woolly beanie, the third-inline
to the throne was spotted mixing with the crowds before being stopped in his tracks by the
voice of Western Saharan singer, Mariem Hassan, which soared through the warm afternoon air.
Hassan started her set with a 'mawal', a graceful song sung without accompaniment before
moving on to the mesmeric desert blues for which she is famed. She sang of love, of heartache
but most of all she sang of the suffering and hopes of her people in their struggle for independence
in Africa's last colony.
Her sound is steeped in the Saharawi/Hassania traditions, fusing the traditional rhythmic 'haul'
with blues and rock and accompanied by the tebal, a goatskin drum and electric guitar. Hassan's
earthy rippling rhythms start slowly and intensify, lifting the spirit and penetrating the bone.

BIOGRAPHY
They built up their tents in the surroundings of the holy city Smara, in the valley of Saguia el
Hamra, next to the river Tasua. The family lived off their herd of camels and goats. There, in the
year ´58, Mariem Hassan came into the world, the third of ten brothers and sisters.

They weren't a family of igawen (griots), though the music was an important part of their family
life. Her father had a good voice but the artistic gift came from her mothers' side. Her aunt Zaina
was quite known as a singer and dancer, her uncle Bushad as a poet and her mother used to sing
on birthday celebrations, weddings, in Ramadan or simply if a friend they hadn't seen for a long
time came to visit them. Among her brothers there is Boika Hassan, a good guitar player and
Mohamed Salem, a poet.

Already very young, when the Western Sahara still belonged to Spain, Mariem used to sing in
small private parties and participated in the clandestine meetings, where the saharaui people
rendered their musical culture. It seemed a very natural thing to do. Although two of her
brothers were in the Spanish army, the family and their surroundings were longing for the
independence of their country, like all the former African colonies did in these years.
Mariem was 17 years old when the "Marcha Verde" (Green March) took place. Her two
brothers who were in the Spanish army (Nomad troops) had cars and so were able to bring the
family to Mjeriz, next to Tifariti, first stage of the exodus. From there they proceeded via Argelia
to a place in the inhospitable Hamada. Their camp is known as Smara, in remembrance of the
town the biggest part of its inhabitants had to leave behind. Mariem Hassan has lived there for
26 years. This is the place where her five children were born. Today she lives with her husband
and children in Barcelona.

The four big camps are named after the four wilayas - provinces - of the Western Sahara - Smara,
El Aaiun, Auserd and Dajla - and organized in the same way. Each wilaya is divided in dairas -
districts - and those are divided in quarters. In each of these localities a group of musicians takes
charge of maintaining the traditional culture.

The Frente Polisario realized the necessity of having a permanent group of musicians with
clear political ideas that could help with the international promotion of their concerns. Those
were the years when Spain had numerous politic songwriters, the "Nueva Trova Cubana" had her
best moments and people still were listening to the songs of Victor Jara and Quilapayún. That's
how the group "El Hafed" came into life, later - after the founder and first secretary of the Frente
Poliario had fallen - named "Martir el Uali Mustafa Sayed", better known as El Uali.

Mariem immediately became part of the group and travelled with them to various countries to
take part in cultural events of a high political impact that during the war with Morocco often
were boycotted by Moroccan activists and functionaries. El Uali recorded four or five albums in
different countries, always with the help of the solidarity committee concerned. Among these
albums "Polisario Vencerá" stands out, which was produced by Mohamed Tami, Saharawi
Minister of Education from the late 70s to the mid 80s. Originally, it was published by
Guimbarda in 1982, then again in 1998 by Nubenegra.

Mariem Hassan like many of the other women that participated in El Uali took part in recordings
or tours whenever she was able to, i.e., if she was not pregnant or had to care for her children.
She is on the album that was recorded in Holland in 1980, but which never was published, and
on the one that was published in France in 1989 but didn't get far either, because twhe tour that
was being prepared to substitute the launching of the album had to be suspended.

Therefore it wasn't until 1998 when we finally could enjoy Mariem's voice in some songs of the
album “A pesar de las heridas”. Among these the “Canción de la Intifada” stands out and
since then has been one of the sparkling songs during the following concerts of Leyoad in
Europe. After four years of intense work with Nubenegra, Leyoad has grown strong thanks to the
two important members of the group, Mariem Hassan and Nayim Alal.

Lately Mariem Hassan has focused more on writing music. By summer 2000 Nubenegra
proposed Leyoad to record a new album and Mariem contributed beautiful songs like “Sahara
neb gija” or “Yasar geidu”. And it is in fact the album “Mariem Hassan con Leyoad” which
marks the beginning of the solo career of Mariem.

2003 Mariem performed at the Jazzfestival in Moers, in theatres in Ermua and Alsasua (Basque
Country) and also in France in Bordeaux, Gonfreville and Le Mans.

The critics unanimously recognized her as the best voice of the Western Sahara, which Mariem
Hassan contributed again with the launching of the album “Medej” in May 2004. That same
year she toured extensively in Europe participating in festivals like Forum de las Culturas,
Barcelona, AfroPfingsten, Winterthur, Africa Festival, Würzburg, Liederflut, Leipzig, Les
Escales, France, Etno Soi, Helsinki, Festival Vía Magna, Madrid, Artistas en Ruta, doing concerts
in Brussels, Antwerpen and Luxemburg, Moods, Zurich, and in 20 different Spanish cities.
2005, from the 7th to the 18th of March Mariem was invited by the Jeunesses Musicales of
Belgium for workshops and concerts. One week before leaving for Belgium she had got the
diagnosis of a breast cancer and was operated right after returning to Spain, in Barcelone.
“Deseos” (2005), her real first solo album started in 2004 with the musical direction and guitar
of Baba Salama, with her brother Boika on guitar too and the percussionist Fatta. With this
quartet she had been apt to recreate the whole universe of the Haul. In the intimacy of this small
group her figure had grown immensely large and left us speechless with the intensity of her
voice.

Deseos is an ardent album, full of rhythm, which seemingly doesn't reveal the tragedies
happening during its gestation: the leukemia and the death of Baba Salama before the album was
published and the cancer of breast of Mariem herself.

The mutual understanding of that quartet can be appreciated in “La tumchu anni”, an
impressive blues with taste of sand and heat, a song talking about the still unsettled situation of
her invaded country, don't desert us! In “Magat milkitna dulaa” the two electric guitars let her
voice fly with unique energies into the four directions of the wind. And finally we can listen to the
electric version of the “Intifada”, her best known song related to a rising in the occupied
territories.

Six months later Mariem Hassan returned on stage to present Deseos, her new release. The first
live performance was in September 2005 at Mercat de Música Viva in Vic (Barceloma) followed
by the international music meeting of WOMEX, Newcastle (England) with a memorable concert.
2006 to 2008 was a time of transition, Mariem trying to restructure her group and adapting to
the new situation. Years of hard work with performances at some important venues as Södra
Teatern (She's a Rebel program, with Souad Massi and Natacha Atlas), Habibi Beats
(Funkhaus Europa's Summer Stage), Sines Festival (Portugal), Concert at the Dunes
(FISAHARA) and many others.

These years have been closely related with documentaries about Mariem, the exile and the
occupied Western Sahara. Outstanding the documentary “La Puerta del Sahara”, directed by
Susy Alvarado, with the soundtrack by Hugo Westerdahl based on the music of Mariem Hassan
and her companions and the documentary, ”The Voice of the Sahara”, about Mariem Hassan
produced by CanalMicro. And at the same time plenty of videos appeared about the Saharawi
Intifada, placed on Youtube, using the songs of Mariem.

After many years flirting with WOMAD finally Mariem Hassan played successfully at the Spanish
venues, Cáceres & Canarias, in 2008, was invited to perform in the 2009 editions of the UK
WOMAD and WOMAD Sicily, and now in 2010 she will participate at WOMADelaide and
WOMAD NZ in Australia and New Zealand.

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